Perfectly Not Meant to Be
by itsmariscul
Summary: Previously "Beneath the Shako". Vivian's freshmen year at Valley Springs involves problems at home, excessive homework, and marching band. She has problems with memorizing her field show and it doesn't help that she's falling in love with a rival.
1. Chapter 1: Freshmen

**Perfectly Not Meant to Be  
**Chapter 1: Freshmen  
_by itsmariscul_

**A/N: After a lot of revision, here is what was originally named "Beneath the Shako". I decided to change the title after a sudden inspiration hit me while listening to the Plain White T's (from "All That We Needed"). I appreciate any feedback, ideas, suggestions, etc. than you all can give me. Also, if you spot an mistakes of any sort please let me know! Thank you for reading :)!**

* * *

I was sitting there waiting for Peter to stop talking about his musical theories. Maria sat next to the right of me, her attention focused solely on the guy sitting at her left named Erick. She had been crushing on him ever since last year but their relationship stayed friendly and both of them refused to make a move even though it was clearly visible that they had something more going on. My mind started to drift along the rest of the chairs as I looked at my new clarinet companions.

There were a staggering total of twenty-two clarinets in our little suburban high school that took little to no interest in the arts and wasted its yearly budget on better equipment for the helpless football team. Freshmen came from either Valley Middle School or Harper Middle School or in the rare occasion, they were out-of-towners. There was a constant animosity between both middle schools over who produced the better players. Valley Middle was naturally known for being the better of the two when it came to music but, Harper produced the valedictorians. I didn't quite seem to fit in either world.

Playing the clarinet had been my greatest dream ever since I could remember. I had wanted to play the clarinet long before I even knew what it was. Once I entered junior high I picked up the wooden instrument and went on a quest to become the greatest clarinetist in the world. Soon though, I realized just how silly I had been and I grew content with just being able to make music with my instrument. As high school neared, I grew interested in marching band and worked hard to rise up steadily and enter with a good position. My band teacher made me section leader during my eighth grade year and now all of sudden I found myself again at the bottom of the food chain. Fresh meat.

"Vivian, who are you starring at?" Maria whispered.

"Huh? What? Oh, no one..." I replied dumbly. My mind was filled with tangled thoughts of nonsense and I longed to be hanging out with my non-band friends at the beach or shopping for my back-to-school wardrobe.

"Alright," said Peter, "let's start the march from the bridge. Vivian and Maria, play out more I can't really hear the third part. Ready? One, two, …" His hands rose and signaled the pick-up note for the first part clarinets. He began to move animatedly his blonde curls bouncing rhythmically. I hesitated before my entrance and then I fell into the rhythm of the song. Peter was the most talented musical prodigy that ever graced the halls of Valley Springs High. Peter could play every brass and woodwind instrument, he was a member of both the Jazz band and Jazz choir, and his schedule consisted of straight Honors and AP classes. He was not only my section leader, he was also my brother.

Suddenly there was a knock on the band room door followed by noises of someone trying to pull open the stubborn piece of wood. One of the upperclassmen clarinet players named Rachel got up from her seat and opened the door for the newcomer.

"Who is it Rachel?" he asked impatiently.

Rachel turned to look at him from the door and shrugged saying, "I don't know. He's a freshman."

"Well, tell him to get in. Quickly!" Peter spat. Rachel returned to her seat followed by a pale and lanky boy whose head was covered in matted black hair. He wore a darkly colored long-sleeve shirt with some preppy brand that had a bird for its logo. The bridge of his nose and his eyes were covered by Calvin Klein glasses and through them shone dark blue eyes—he was utterly lost and confused. I ignored him and resumed to mentally practicing my fingerings while I head Peter say, "Oh, hello David. Steph's brother, right? You're late. Just grab a chair from the storeroom and take a seat," greeted Peter. David? My brother Peter had been dating Stephanie, a junior saxophone player, for almost a year now but I had never heard of her having a younger brother. Then again, I didn't really care much for Peter or his girlfriend anyways. She only dropped by our house every once in a while.

After the newcomer had put his clarinet together and sat down close to the rest of the Valley Middle School students Peter resumed his teaching. I fought the quick tempo and struggled to stay with Peter's hand. Maria started to fall out and I played out louder remembering Peter's earlier comment. As we played through the rest of the song I let my mind resume to its nonsensical-thinking.

Our summer practices were pretty much the same every day. As freshmen, we were constantly being pounded to exceed our mental and physical limitations often ending in a shattered mess when we got home. The blazing heat of the summer didn't help and it left our skins in darker shades than we had started off with. It also didn't help that I, as the lousy player that I was turning out to be, was constantly picked on for my inability to play anything right. My ambiture was wrong. My posture was bad. My playing was horrific. Thank goodness I hadn't started marching yet. Not to mention, people expected a lot out of me thanks to my brilliant brother.

Most of the freshmen were from Valley Middle School, Harper Middle's cross-town rivals. Musicianship ability clearly belonged to Valley Middle while Harper held all the cards in the other arts and academics. I tried to brush off all snickers and comments that were made behind my back but it was all to no avail. I was clearly missing Peter's musical gene. And so, that is how I spent my entire summer--being chastised by my genius brother in front of my soon-to-be classmates inside a stuffy band room on the second floor of the Valley Springs High School stadium.

* * *

"So have you memorized the first movement yet?" Maria asked after sectionals as I walked her to the bus stop. We had recently become close friends due to the continuous summer band practices.

"Yeah, part of it at least. The beginning is just half notes and full notes but Peter says I have to improve my tone quality. He also said we'd be doing a lot more practicing at home," I said calmly as I swung my clarinet case and starred down at the floor beneath me trying to remember Peter's exact words. I wasn't functioning properly today.

"Don't let him get you down. You are a good player Viv, your section leader status from last year proves it, just do what you have to do," Maria said reassuringly.

"Sure. I'll keep trying, don't worry. Peter just really gets on my nerves sometimes. I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks Maria," I responded. This was going to be a tough year. It was nice to know that Maria was there for me. Hopefully I'd make more friends like her as the year progressed. Band seemed to eat up all of my time though.

"That's the Vivian I know. I thought marching band was going to be hard but it's actually kind of cool, don't you think?" she said lightly now. Maria wasn't a person to lag on somber subjects for too long.

"Uh-huh. Whatever," I disagreed completely but I wasn't up for arguing. We were slowly reaching the bus stop where Maria waited and our pace slowed down gradually.

"Okay, well get some rest. Try not to practice too much. See you tomorrow morning girl," Maria walked up to me and gave me a soft hug.

"Bye. See you tomorrow. Take care." I returned the warm hug by instinct and watched her walk off.

"Love you! Bye!" she yelled and turned to give a little wave. I smiled and then turned around to head back home. Maria and I were practically inseparable now after so many long days spent together in the overcrowded band room. Even when there was no practice, we usually felt the need to go out and a catch a movie or maybe even do some shopping. Sometimes we spent entire nights texting or talking to one another until sunrise. The more time I spent in band the closer I got to Maria.

That afternoon I got home and fell into a deep sleep only to be woken up by my mother's voice calling me for dinner. I rushed out of my bedroom in a groggy state and started setting up the table alongside my brother. My parents weren't really the kind of parents that cared about what their children were up to. They simply made sure that we go to and from school and never really worried about what we did outside of that. Unless of course, we brought home bad grades. It was a silent contract: bring home straight A's and it's good, bring home a C and your disinherited. To outside spectators it seemed unfair, but to me and my brother it had simply become a way of life. Lately, however, I had found it more and more difficult to keep up with all their expectations. My brother was a living prodigy and I was beggar in comparison.

"Vivian, after dinner we're going to run over the entire show by memory," said Peter out of nowhere as I sat at the table poking at my spinach.

"Fine," I murmured unenthusiastically.

"I wish you would make a greater effort to improve Vivian. Do you have any idea what the rest of the section thinks about you?" He sat glaring at me with his brown eyes from across our eight-chair dinner table. My parents sat on one end and talked amongst themselves while Peter and I sat on the other end ignoring one another, for the most part.

"Whatever," I responded and got up impatiently. I began picking up my dishes and heading towards the kitchen. My parents turned slightly in our direction to see what our argument was about but then quickly resumed their conversation.

"Vivian, we start marching next week and I can't afford to have weak players in my section. Either you learn your part or become an alternate. Vivian, are you listening to me?" he said angrily.

"No," I responded, "I'm going out for a walk. I can practice later." I headed into the kitchen and threw my dishes into the sink and then started for the door.

"Where are you going? I'm talking to you Vivian," Peter called.

He had gotten up from the table and was standing at the kitchen door but I was already at the front gate of the house and I really didn't think he would dare to chase after me. I unclasped the latch of the black metal gate that surrounded my house and headed out into the street.

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**A/N: First chapter, finished! What do you all think? I have no set schedule for updates but expect the next chapter up in a week or less. Thanks again for reading!  
****~itsmariscul**


	2. Chapter 2: In Laws

**Perfectly Not Meant to Be**  
Chapter 2: In-laws  
_by itsmariscul_

**A/N: Thank you for the review(s)! I appreciate the support! Alright, so I don't particularly like how this chapter starts off but I've re-worked it as much as I can. The style might vary from the first chapter but I hope it's not too different. Anyways, enjoy!**

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I walked through my remote neighborhood listening to the distant sounds of housewives preparing dinner for their husbands and dogs communicating with one another. The setting sun broke through the branches of trees that lined the sidewalk and beat down on me like a blinding searchlight. I covered my eyes with my hand as I continued following the specks on the cement that led me away from my house.

The more I thought about home the angrier I became. Tears began building in my eyes and I lost my sense of direction until it was too late. My bent head collided with a body and I felt myself fall on the ground sideways, my shoulder twisting as it collided with the cement and causing me to roll onto my back.

"Hey, sorry about that. Are you okay?" I heard a voice say.

"Ugh... yeah, I'm okay. I just..."

"Here, I'll help you out," the voice said and I felt a hand intertwine with mine as I slowly got onto my feet. I fixed my shirt and wiped away some dirt and then turned to look at my savior. The guy seemed much younger than his voice hinted at and he stood just about an inch above my height. He also wore a dark green shirt and a pair of glasses that seemed oddly familiar.

"Sorry," I murmured, "I should have been paying more attention, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But looks like you aren't. You scraped your arm pretty bad," he gestured towards my right arm. I turned to look at myself for a brief moment and noticed a deep gash near my elbow. I ignored it and turned back to my companion—and then, it hit me.

"CK!" I shouted.

"What?" he asked confoundedly. Of course! He was the newcomer who wore the Calvin Klein glasses that I had admired the entire band practice. Stephanie's mysterious younger brother.

"You play the clarinet, right? Stephanie's brother, today at band practice?" I said.

"Yeah, wait. You're um... ," his face scrunched up as he thought of a name for me.

My hand went out towards his automatically and I shook it, "Vivian. You're future sister-in-law." I added sarcastically. He dropped my hand and started laughing.

"I'm David. Sister-in-law? Oh wait, are you...? No?!," he continued laughing. "Wait, this doesn't make any sense!"

"My brother is your sister's boyfriend," I giggled, "he's been with her like forever and I just barely found out she had a younger brother."

"Yeah, Peter. I remember now. Wow, what a coincidence meeting you here. Were you dropping by for a visit?" he turned his head and motioned to a pale-blue house that stood behind him.

"No, actually, I had no idea you lived here," I confessed, "I was just taking a walk and ended up here I guess."

"Well, welcome to my part of town. But, wait, isn't this a bit far from where you live though? You use to go to Harper right?" he asked confused.

"Yes," I admitted again, "I do live kind of far. I really wasn't paying attention to where I was going I guess." By now we had started heading towards the direction I had been coming from. David swung his arms at his side and starred at me as I told him about my lack of observation.

"Oh, well if you like I could walk you back home?" he offered. I stared at him and considered walking back with him but brushed the idea from my mind when I realized that he would have to make the return trip alone and it was already dark.

"Erm... no, thanks. I think I'll just go back myself. It's not too late yet," I mumbled.

"If your sure. I mean, I don't mind. I was getting kind of bored in my house anyways.

I wove my hands in my face saying, "Oh no, it's okay don't worry. I'm good."

"Okay. Well, see you around then. Nice meeting you Vivian," said David as he stretched out his hand and shook mine again.

"Likewise. See you around," I added as I walked away backwards.

"Yup, see you at practice," he responded and then waved to me as I turned my back on him. I wove back and then started on a sprint. Peter was going to eat me alive when I got back. I hadn't even bothered to take my phone with me when I stormed out of the house. That meant an extra hour of practice as punishment. Great.

* * *

When I reached my house—ten minutes later—I figured that I had only been gone for less than two hours and that Peter couldn't be too mad. I unlatched the black iron gate and jogged up the brick steps that led to the front door of my house. Frantically I jammed my keys into the lock and then slowly pushed on the varnished oak door. I made my way quietly through the living room to the white carpeted stairs that led to my bedroom. The stairs groaned slightly as my feet jumped from step to step. When I reached the top I turned right and dashed to the last door.

As I entered my room I dropped on the floor and panted for air, my chest fell up and down and I struggled to control my breathing. Gradually I got up and started searching for my silver cellphone, where had I left it? I rummaged through all the piles of books and journals that covered my desk but couldn't find anything. I was sure I'd missed at least ten calls already and not to mention all text messages!

"Where you looking for this?" asked a voice from the entrance of my room. I wiggled myself from underneath my bed and gazed up slowly at Peter's looming face, my phone dangled helplessly from his right hand.

"Erm... yes. I was kind of expecting a call. Could I have it back now?" I asked tentatively. If I got up slowly and approached him from the right side then I just might just have enough time to snatch my phone away and make out my bedroom door. I started rising carefully but he hid the phone in one of his back pockets before I could reach my full height. "Peter, that isn't fair. Give me back my phone!"

"Sorry Vivian, it's time to practice," he said casually as I wrestled with him to recapture my phone. He pushed on me hard and I fell towards the ground. "I'll be waiting for you in the piano room," he said coolly and then walked away while I angrily tended to my new set of bruises. I couldn't remember the last time I had spent so much time on the floor as I had today. I had no choice but to give in to him. Peter was stronger, smarter, and more conniving then I could ever be. If he told my parents that I wasn't practicing enough with him then I'd be forced to take up private lessons. Peter was beyond mean, he was cruel.

Our house was fairly larger than most homes in my neighborhood and it consisted of various rooms that were rarely ever used. As Peter grew older and more talented in music, my parents decided to turn an old den into our family's piano room which was only really ever used by both Peter and I. My parents had reinforced the old den with cement to make it sound proof and had added extra commodities as well. Although Peter and I didn't play the piano our parents had felt that buying a piano would make a statement to society. Therefore, our renovated den now consisted of a black grand piano and a thousand other instruments. In the right side of the room, across from the piano and the bookcase were mine and Peter's individual practice areas. My stand stood empty with my chair shoved somewhere unnoticed while Peter's stand and chair stood hidden by music sheets.

I searched for my practice chair while Peter began tidying up his music sheets. As I dragged my chair towards my stand I began thinking of ways to alleviate Peter's anger towards me. "Peter," I began, "How's your girlfriend Stephanie doing? Are you guys still together?" My brother continued sifting through his things and pretended not to hear me. After positioning my chair I switched to greasing my corks and putting my clarinet together . "I didn't know her brother was also a freshmen. Do mom and dad even know her name?"

"Stop meddling in my private life Vivian. I know you're trying to distract me," he said while opening his clarinet case.

"I was just curious. Is she going to come to our initiation this year?"

"You'll be lucky if you don't end up an alternate," he hesitated, "Besides, you're not suppose to know about the initiation."

"You act like I don't live in this house. I've seen it happen for the past three years, of course I know about it!"

"She's talked to mom during initiation the past three years. I'm sure mom will see her again this time too," he said sternly and then placed his reed into his mouth so he wouldn't have to speak to me while he let it soak.

I questioned Peter's reaction and defensive attitude, my parents probably knew nothing about Peter's secret love life. That was interesting, I could have sworn they knew more than his grades. My mother must have seen Stephanie as a mere friend of Peter's but then again, he had never taken the time to properly introduce her. Did people still do that nowadays? Or was is it just all like in the television dramas, antiquated traditions that no one bothered to follow anymore. I'd never had a boyfriend. "Well, it's nice to hear you two are still together. I ran into her brother David after dinner." It was my turn to stop talking as I placed my reed into my mouth.

Peter pulled out his reed and began tightening it on his mouth piece not meeting my gaze. "David is much better than I thought he would be. His sister wasn't lying when she said he had talent. I think maybe I should offer him some private lessons to see what he's really capable of." I began losing Peter's attention as he centered his thoughts around David's playing abilities. Dejected, I prepared my mouth piece and then began warming up on a chromatic scale before Peter stopped me. "Alright, now start from after the percussion introduction in the Opener of the field show. Ready? One, two, three..."

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**A/N: Please drop a review and let me know your thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. I'm open to ideas! Next chapter up in a week or less! ****~itsmariscul**


	3. Chapter 3: Chris

**Perfectly Not Meant to Be  
**Chapter 3: Chris  
_**by itsmariscul**  
_

**A/N: Hello everyone! So here's the third chapter of my story. As you read along, you might find some repetitive situations (you'll see what I mean) with one of the characters. I wrote this a while ago and so I didn't really think about what I was writing and just kind of wrote it as it came. I think however, it'll serve as a good contrast for what is to come... But yeah, I'll stop boring you all. Oh, and once again, thank you for the lovely reviews! I appreciate them loads!**

* * *

"No! Wait, could I just look over my music one more time?" I pleaded, with my mouthpiece between my teeth and my fingers curled tightly on my keys. Peter stood facing me and I tried my best to appear innocent.

"Vivian, you've had months to practice. You're ready, just go for it," Peter said sternly.

I hesitated and then slowly inhaled a large breath of air. My fingers felt clammy and they barely covered the keyholes of my clarinet. I started the introduction of the opener and then slowly made my way through the end of it. Mentally, I remembered to accent all the notes that needed to be accented, hesitantly I made my way to the rests and then scrambled to enter. By the time I reached the closer my mind came to a sudden halt, the trills I had been working on for days were still too shrilly and wouldn't come out right. I urged my fingers to continue the patterns that my mind painted for them but they wouldn't move any further.

"Why did you stop playing?" asked Peter.

"Er.. sorry, I just... I don't know what happened. Hold on, give me ten seconds to gather my thoughts," I asked pleadingly. He waited while I mentally struggled to remember the last thing I had played. Introduction of the closer, then a long rest, then crescendo and slurs from measures thirty to thirty eight and then, then what? Oh yes, trills. I took in an exaggerated breath and forced my air in through my instrument. The trills started off weakly but then they grew stronger, the upper register notes started flowing and I felt my fingers take control once again. The closer ended with a series of whole notes.

I let out a large breath of air as I nervously removed my mouthpiece from my quivering mouth. Peter scribbled away on his notepad annotating the strong and weak points of my performance, without looking I knew I'd definitely have more minuses than pluses. Yet, I felt relieved because it was over. An entire month living in dread of playing the whole show memorized and somehow I had made it through to the end, well for now at least.

"Thank you, please tell David to come in next," said Peter nonchalantly. He always talked in such an emotionless manner, it was impossible to guess what he was thinking and whether or not I had passed. I stood looking at him for a few brief seconds waiting for some type of sign.

"What are you waiting for, Vivian? Hurry up, I've still got ten people to test," he said annoyed. I glared at him and then walked away towards the exit of the practice room. My knees felt wobbly but somehow, I didn't feel too nervous. I had performed the music thoroughly and except for that one mistake at the end, I thought I had done a good job. Slowly I walked out of the room and at gazed at all the staring eyes waiting to see my expression. I stared back at them blankly and looked for David.

David was standing by a black piano that stood near the main practice room of the band room, the room I had just come out of. The rest of the clarinets stood or sat around in various locations around the band room looking at their music or humming the show to themselves. David stood with his back to me and I walked up steadily towards him as he finished playing the closer for a girl named Raven that stood in front of him. He turned suddenly and I jumped a little with surprise.

"David..." I started as my feet began moving backwards instead of forwards. Raven glared at me and I struggled with the words inside of my mouth. What was happening to me? Why couldn't I speak?

"Yes?" he asked coolly. My heart was fluttering in my chest as my eyes met his. He looked bored and I noticed how his cheeks were slightly flushed from his playing. My eyes moved to his lips transfixed by them.

"I... It's your turn," I mumbled as I forced my eyes to move down towards the floor. "Thanks," he said and walked past me towards the practice room. I looked back to where David had been standing and met Raven's gaze once again, she was throwing daggers at me with her eyes and I flinched slightly.

"Vivian how'd it go?" called out Maria as she walked up to me from across the room. I took one last look at Raven's glaring eyes and then walked quickly towards Maria.

"It went good. I stopped towards the end of the closer but I think I did well," I responded confidently.

"That's great! I'm so jealous, you're done but Erick, Chris and I still have to wait," she said with a small pout on her face. My heart was still pounding too fast for me to concentrate and I starred at Maria trying to absorb everything she was telling me.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just... I'm exhausted," I answered. From the corner of my eye I saw Chris starring at me curiously, "Chris, do you want to come with us after testing to go get some food?" I said as I turned to face him.

"No, it's okay. I have some things to do afterward but thanks for inviting me," Chris responded and then walked away.

Erick eyed him suspiciously and said, "He's strange, I'm not sure why we let him hang around us." As he said that he moved protectively towards Maria and I laughed to myself as I realized he was only worried about possible competition.

"What's so funny Vivian?" Erick demanded.

"Nothing, it's nothing," I smirked and then left him standing next to Maria as I searched for my clarinet case.

* * *

The testing continued while I waited in the music library of the band room reading my summer assignment for my Honors English class. We'd been given the option of two incredibly boring books: we had to read either _Lord of the Flies_ or _Bean Trees_ and then write an essay on the themes of the book. Neither books captured my interest but I opted for the easier of the two, _Lord of the Flies_. Every time I turned the page I looked up at the clock wondering when Maria and Erick would finish their tests. As I read, I sat cross-legged on a chair that I had dragged in from the band room skimming lazily through the pages.

As it turned out, Maria and Erick were the last two to be tested so I continued to wait patiently until they were finished. I glanced up at the clock and saw that it was nearing two-thirty in the afternoon, Peter was honestly tormenting me by making my friends go last. Then again, we would have all probably waited until the end to hear the results. Although truthfully speaking, I could have asked my brother at any time for the results since we did live under the same roof.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, I got up in a rush to open it without realizing that my legs had been numbed by my inactivity. I stumbled at the door and fell flat on my face; the floor had recently been waxed and I felt as my skin twisted along the smooth surface. I looked up to see the door slowly opening and saw a pair of Converse move closer towards my face.

I closed my eyes instantly and felt the shoes ram into my lower jaw sensing as immediate pain. "Ooow! Ah, my mouth," I gagged and rolled onto my back holding my jaw tightly.

"Oh shoot, I'm sorry. I didn't see you...." cried a panicked voice. I recognized it as Chris's and then I felt as he dropped to his knees and lifted my head into his lap, "Vivian! Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Lately it just seems like my body has grown a new affinity towards the floor," I remarked sarcastically. He looked puzzled so I said, "I'm fine I only scraped it a little, don't worry." Chris helped me sit up and then knelt next to me inspecting my wound.

"You're bleeding! I'm so sorry I didn't know I had hit you so hard, let me go get some paper towels for you," he said as he stood up hastily. "Don't move, okay?" I nodded and he went out of the room while I remained on the floor trying to keep the dripping blood to a minimum.

The truth was, however, that whenever you got a cut or were wounded and started bleeding, it always seemed like you were losing more blood then you really were so by the time Chris returned from the band room's bathroom my jaw had mostly stopped bleeding.

"Here, wipe the blood off your chin with this first," Chris said as he handed me a wet paper towel and I started dabbing at the sticky blood afraid it would get on my clothes. Chris took the wet paper towel from me and handed me a dry one so that I could remove whatever blood was left and clear off the moisture.

I continued rubbing my scrape carefully but I couldn't tell if I had removed all the mess, "Hey, Chris do I have any blood left on me because I feel something but I can't really see anything..."

"Yeah, hold up," Chris said and took the paper towel from me and held my face gently while wiping at the corner of my lip with soft motions. The sudden proximity of his body made me feel awkward, I starred at his eyes and he smiled innocently but I couldn't help but blush and move my eyes down to his chest. I hesitated momentarily and then shifted my face to the side trying to get away from his hands.

"It's all right Chris, I can't do it myself," I said nervously and tried to pull the paper towel from his right hand but he kept his fingers sternly clasped around it and wouldn't let go. He moved closer to me since I had moved away from him and I could feel him breathing gently on my face as I stared at him confused.

"Vivian, I wanted to tell you..." he started but a sudden noise at the door made me jump and we turned to see the door open as someone opened the handle from the outside. My breath was cut short when I saw the person who walked in was none other than David and behind him stood Raven.

David's collected expression broke when he saw us on the floor, his questioning eyes looked down and caught my gaze, moved to Chris still kneeling by me, and then widened slightly as he saw the injury on my chin. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," he murmured, "I just need to get my music," he said and walked into the room quickly and grabbed a plain white binder sitting on a table. "Excuse me," he added as he turned around and hurried briskly out the door. Raven stayed at the doorway the entire time smiling coyly and then followed behind David as he went out.

The entire time my heart had been on overdrive and I watched dumbfounded as the door closed behind them, but then snapped back as I felt Chris stir next to me. "I think I better start going now, it's getting late and I have to get home to do some chores and stuff," he said.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," I blurted and then got up slowly to my feet my heart still beating loudly in my chest as I tried to put my thoughts in order.

"Try putting some ice on your jaw so you don't get a bruise," Chris said, "I'll see you at practice tomorrow. Later Vivian," he said and then started walking out the door but then turned around again, "Be more careful," he muttered and shut the door behind him.

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**A/N: I appreciate all reviews whether they be good or bad. Please let me know what you think! The next chapter isn't quite written yet so it might take a while before it's up but please remain patient, it'll be up soon! And by the way, **_**Lord of the Flies**_** is an amazing book, I strongly recommend it!  
**

**Note for Future: I want to let you all know that although my story is taking place in the "Marching Band Word" it does not necessarily mean that I'll be talking about marching band all the time. I'm focusing more on the relationships that are built while in marching band and the struggles that students undergo. Keep in mind that I'm writing this story with no real idea about how it's going to end or what I'll be writing next. So although I have no clue what might happen in the next chapter, I do know what I will not be writing (if it makes sense). I want to apologize beforehand to any of you who might have been looking for more "marching" action. With that said, I hope that I haven't discouraged any of you too much from continuing with the story. There will be marching band things but maybe not as much as you may have been expecting. Thanks for your support.**


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